Steel Notes Magazine
February 2017
She insisted that Cindy take it , she said “ I ’ m a Londoner I ’ m used to it . I don ’ t need the coat .”
Alexxis : That was very nice of her .
Dennis : And Cindy still has that coat .
Alexxis : Very cool !
Dennis : Actually , it ’ s actually kind of like the coat you have on in the picture with Glen Buxton from “ The Billion Dollar Babies ” era .
Alexxis : Oh so like my white furry one ? [ Laughter ]
Dennis : Right . Except hers , the one that Cindy got is brown . But it ’ s fuzzy like that .
Alexxis : Awesome ! That was a very popular jacket back then .
Dennis : It ’ s not real fur , its faux fur .
Alexxis : Mine was fake fur too .
Dennis : But anyway so now here we are at the V . I . P . The Yardbirds are brand new , they ’ re our heroes from the first time we put on their record and heard those guitar parts and everything . And you know the bass player Paul Samwell-Smith was my biggest influence . When I heard him play , I realized that the bass didn ’ t have to do anything in particular . That you could really be inventive . And so that gave me the courage to go out and make up bass runs that people wouldn ’ t do or whatever . But when we opened for The Yardbirds , we had already learned a bunch of their songs because we sent away to England and got their album . So when we opened for them we played a bunch of their songs before they came on stage . [ Laughter ]
Alexxis : Hahahah
Dennis : We used to have these theatrical themes incorporating art into the band . One night we would have televisions on stage , another night we would have a bathtub from when they were redecorating the bathroom at the club and the old iron bathtub with the feet . Alice was standing in the front pointing like George Washington crossing the Delaware and we would haul this thing through the crowd onto the stage . [ Laughter ] We did our show and then Alice got back into the tub and we hurled it back . Well
Alexxis With Glen Buxton And White Fur Jacket BDB After Party 1973 this particular one night we were all together , toilet paper was the theme . So we came out wrapped in toilet paper like mummies and then we threw toilet paper into the crowd and stuff like that . We tried to have a different theme every set that we did . So two sets a night we needed four themes , you know rolling tires across the stage or whatever . And anyway , this particular night that The Yardbirds were there we decided to use plastic forks and stick plastic forks in our hair . Glen took the silverware tray out of the kitchen and that ’ s when he started playing slide guitar with the spoon . Well , Glen was using the silverware for various things during the show , and Jeff Beck loved that . So during the break , we went outside because it ’ s always really hot in the club . So everybody would go out into the parking lot and
then come back for the headliner band . Well , Jeff Beck had come over to The Spider Sanctum and swiped that tray of silverware and took it back and he was using the spoons . He was playing his Telecaster guitar , the same one that ’ s in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame , and he was throwing his spoons and they would bounce off of the strings . So he actually swiped Glen ’ s gig that night . [ Laughter ]
Alexxis : Oh wow ! [ Laughter ]
Dennis : So we went backstage and said “ So what did you think of us opening with your songs ?” And they were like “ Well ”.. I talked to Jeff Beck and Alice told me the same things , similar conversations . Years later I told Jeff Beck , “ We ’ re the band in Phoenix , Arizona , and he said “ I know , I remember that gig .” We ’ re flying in and we ’ re thinking nobody is going to know who we are , we had never even seen a cactus before . They ’ re in the middle of the desert and they go to this club and the opening band plays their songs . [ Laughter ]
Alexxis : Oh no . [ Laughter ]
Dennis : He said he remembered it . [ Laughter ] You know we were just kids , we thought we would do a tribute to our hero . We didn ’ t realize we were being rude . We did those songs pretty well but nothing like The Yardbirds did you know .
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